SACRAMENTO—On August 4, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced in a press release the upcoming closure of the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) located on 5th Street and Western Avenue in Norco. The closure is expected to take place by the Fall of 2026.

According to CDCR, California’s budget called for a prison closure. The deactivation of CRC is projected to save $150 million in the annual General Fund spending. Reports indicate that the lease of CRC was also terminated.

CRS is a Level II medium-security correctional facility consisting of approximately 2,766 felons, and 1,191 employees.

CDCR reportedly chose to close the CRC, aka, “Norco,” campus due to its dwindling prison population. The incarcerated population, currently at its lowest point since the late 1980s.

CRC is the fourth prison closure. The Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (CVSP) was deactivated in November 2024 as part of CDCR’s original plan to close the facility by March of 2025. This closure was expedited for fiscal reasons.

The California Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville was fully deactivated on June 30, 2023. Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI), aka “Tracy,” closed on September 30, 2021.

On June 30, 2023, Imprint, Youth and Family News, reported that the state of “California began closing its youth prisons rather abruptly, amidst a budget crisis. The state is now sending the last of its youth from the state facilities to county juvenile halls, many of which are poorly equipped to house people for lengthy periods of time and suffer from their own institutional crisis.”

On December 12, 2022, CDCR issued a press release including but not limited to the following information. The full text of prison closures is available on their website.

“As outlined in the 2022-23 budget, CDCR is moving forward with one prison closure and ceasing operation of another leased facility. The department will also deactivate some facilities within six prisons.

Additionally, the department will exit the $32 million annual lease with Core Civic for California City Correctional Facility (CAC). It will terminate the contract in March 2024, effectively ending the use of that facility as a state prison.

The department is also planning the deactivation of certain facilities in six prisons:

Folsom Women’s Facility (expected deactivation January 2023)

West Facility in California Men’s Colony (expected deactivation winter 2023)

Facility C in Pelican Bay State Prison (expected deactivation winter 2023)

Facility A in California Rehabilitation Center (expected deactivation spring 2023)

Facility D in California Institution for Men (expected deactivation spring 2023)

Facility D in California Correctional Institution (expected deactivation summer 2023)

Reports indicate that the current inmate population has dwindled to 91,000 people down from 173,000, which was its highest point in 2006. It is not clear how many prisons this number reflects.

As of June 26, 2025, there are 34 open prisons in the state of California. That number includes (CRC). The other 33 are listed on the CDCR website under Facility Visiting Status.